6/30/2022
6/30/2022
Dear Friends in Christ,
The weight of world has been heavy on my soul this week beloveds, as I imagine it has on yours. Between the Supreme Court decisions last week to overturn Roe VS Wade and strike down a New York gun law that limited an individual’s ability to carry a gun in public, and just today ruling against an EPA effort to regular power plant emissions; the real time playing out of the “Don’t Say Gay” law in Florida, and the congressional hearings about how close our democracy came to being taken away last January, we would be forgiven for feeling like the world is ending and giving in to despair. I know from talking to many of you about last Friday’s decision that you feel sad, angry, frustrated, and helpless. I feel the same. But we believe in a God who is bigger than any of this, scary and unsettling as it all feels right now. We believe in a God who is stronger even than death; a God who uses the worst the world can do to reveal the greatest hope of all time – that this world will never have the last word; that there is new life, resurrected life, after death and darkness, despair and grief. And signs of that new life, that hope, are already beginning to emerge, and there are ways to fight back and reclaim our values, to live out our faith, even if the world seems determined to try and stop us.
A young person I am close to drew attention to ways we can make a difference with our money through a website called Progressive Shopper that rates companies by which political candidates they support by the donations they make. It is a way to do something at a time when so many are feeling helpless.
Jesus said, “Where your treasure is your heart will be also.” It seems an easy thing to do, to spend money in ways which reflect our values. But I am already finding this is not as easy as it seems. For one thing, it is not perfect. Some of the companies with a good rating as far as reproductive rights go have poor records in humanitarian and environmental issues. And while some companies are easy to boycott, others aren’t. I already boycott certain companies I know do not represent or even actively work against my values (hello Hobby Lobby and Chick Fil A) but mostly when it’s convenient to me and I have other easily accessible options. But I’ve been on the fence about Amazon for a long time. I don’t like their labor practices and their owner’s lack of integrity, but it is just so convenient! But thanks to Progressive Shopper I now know that they also fund pro-gun, anti-abortion rights, and climate denying politicians. Now I must make the kind of choice those who encountered Jesus in the flesh were confronted with. I am now being called to walk my talk, to choose between what I believe in and what is convenient. And even that isn’t simple. As my daughter pointed out, many Amazon retailers are small businesses who depend on Amazon to survive.
None of this is easy. And Jesus never promised it would be:
“If any wish to come after me, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it.”
Jesus told those who wanted to follow him that they should not even bury their dead first, and that they should sell all their possessions and give the money to the poor. Some were unable to accept the sacrifice needed and walked away. Others, like the disciples, followed without hesitation, leaving everything they knew before behind without a second glance, because they trusted that Jesus had more to offer than their hard, unforgiving lives. Right now, many of us are reeling from the events of the past week. We feel frustrated and helpless, but we are not. We are being given the opportunity to live into our faith; to take up our crosses, even if it is inconvenient and hard, to make the necessary sacrifices and follow the Savior of the world, the Lord of life.
Yours in Christ,
Rev. Jane+